Tony McGuire battered the £300,000 semi into pieces with a sledgehammer as his astonished neighbours looked on.

Police were called but were powerless to stop the 49-year-old electrician destroying the property.

His father Allan owned the house until his death in 2005. Tony later moved in with his wife Darriel, 50, and six children and poured their savings into renovating it.

But it emerged that his late dad had left a will saying the property should be divided between Tony and his siblings Terry and Tina.

And when they failed to come to an agreement, Tony took a sledgehammer to the four-bedroomed home.

He targeted the extensions and garage, which he built himself with £200,000 of his own money.

Tony was unrepentant after leaving the house looking like a disaster zone.

He said: “I did what I had to do. This has been going on for seven years and I’ve had enough. Terry’s going to be quite bitter about what has happened because he will have lost money. My sister is going to be livid as well.”

Tony said he had lived in the house since 2009 but moved out a week and a half ago after he had “had enough” of rowing with his brother.

His wife said: “We put all our money into the house and were then told we were being evicted by Tony’s brother.

“It was not nice to smash up our home but I back Tony all the way.”

Terry later turned up at the property after hearing about Tony’s day of destruction. He said: “This whole situation has blown up in the last couple of days.

“That is all I know until my solicitor gets back to me and tells me what the hell is going on. I’m not very good to say the least.”

Their sister Tina was said to be “shocked”.

Neighbour Stuart Rogers told how he dashed outside to see his neighbour swinging a sledgehammer wildly.

He said: “Slates were flying off the roof. It was like something out of EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street all mixed into one.”

A South Wales Police spokesman said: “It appears there is a civil dispute ongoing and police officers are investigating.